Vancouver College, Mount Douglas 'expected' to light up scoreboard in Triple-A football final

Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun11.30.2012

Vancouver College Fighting Irish quarterback Hunter Robinson practises Thursday as his team prepares for Saturday's Triple-A football final against the Mount Douglas Rams of Victoria. Both teams have dynamic offences that average 40-plus points per game.Steve Bosch
/ PNG

Mt. Douglas Rams will be looking to repeat as B.C. Boys AAA high school football champions.Ric Ernst
/ PNG Files

VANCOUVER — With two dynamic offences averaging 40-plus points a game in the playoffs, the form chart says Saturday’s Subway Bowl B.C. high school football Triple A championship will turn into a track meet at B.C. Place.

Put some new bulbs in the scoreboard. Make sure there are some young, agile sideline guys on the officiating crew.

Or, maybe not.

“I’m prepared to deal with whatever happens, but we’ve had matchups like this before,” cautioned Todd Bernett, head coach of the Vancouver College Fighting Irish. “In 2005, it was College and W.J. Mouat and it was supposed to be a shootout with two high-scoring offences and it ended up being 7-6.

“You never know. There could be turnovers, could be special teams issues. There’s too many variables. The trend this season would indicate (an explosive shootout), but we’ll take it as it comes.”

Vancouver College, which won the title in 2010, will face last year’s winner Mount Douglas Rams of Victoria in the final (7 p.m.). The South Delta Sun Devils go up against the defending champion Mission Roadrunners in the Double A final (3 p.m.)

While Bernett suggests a stingy, ferocious defensive battle might just break out, that would be a shocker given the offensive weapons each team has at its disposal, especially now that College quarterback Hunter Robinson is healthy again following an early-season shoulder separation.

“Taking nothing away from Mouat, (whom Mount Doug defeated 41-15 in one semifinal last weekend), but Vancouver College presents a bigger challenge because they’re a little more balanced,” says Rams’ head coach Mark Townsend. “They’ve got a great running game with Liam Mahara and with Hunter Robinson, the way he throws the ball around and can run as well, he’s a two-headed monster.

“And Rashaun Simonize, he’s an elite receiver.”

Mount Douglas is very balanced as well, particularly now that it’s improving offensive line is giving quarterback Ashton McKinnon more time to throw. The Rams also feature the Triple A player of the year in Grade 11 running back Marcus Davis, who racked up 2,457 all-purpose yards and 28 touchdowns this season.

“Containing their explosive plays,” said Bernett when asked what will be the key to beating Mount Doug. “We can do it, it’s just a matter of will we. It’s about getting people in the right spots, getting aligned properly, getting the pre-snap reads. Those are the things we can control, the rest is up to the kids themselves.”

Bernett said it will be critical for his defensive ends Anthony Balce and Keegan Yang to get pressure on McKinnon while also maintaining their contain responsibilities for the running game.

College lost 54-32 to Mount Doug in Victoria back on Oct. 5, but the Fighting Irish have won seven straight since then, the first six by an average of 23.5 points before squeaking out a 42-40 semifinal win over St. Thomas More.

“They’re a team on the roll and playing some great football right now,” says Townsend.

Mount Doug, 11-1 overall, is looking to become the first repeat champion since St. Thomas More did it in 1999-2000. Before that, Richmond won three in a row from 1996-98.

The parity in Triple A is so good right now that Mount Douglas is the first team since STM in 2000 to even made it back to the final the year after winning.

Townsend is a little surprised his Rams have done that after beating Mouat 42-35 in last season’s championship game, largely because he has just nine Grade 12 players.

“We have 21 Grade 11s, which really bodes well for the future of Mount Doug football. But we’ve really exceeded our expectations by just being in the Subway Bowl in 2012.”

*In the Double A final, the Sun Devils are looking to complete an undefeated season. Just don’t mention that word to head coach Ray Moon or any of his players.

“We haven’t talked anything about an undefeated season for five weeks,” says Moon, whose club is 11-0. “Our focus as soon as we knew that we were situated quite well for the playoffs was game to game. There’s been no talk about what our record is.”

South Delta and Mission have not played this season, so Moon has been burning the midnight oil looking at film of the Roadrunners.

“I’ve seen so much film, I’m seeing green, black and white in my sleep. They’ve got a great one-two combination with No. 7 Evan Horton at running back and No. 8 Kevin Wiens. He’s a quarterback, but he’s rushed for over 1,100 yards, so we have to try to control that aspect of their game.”

The Sun Devils counter with a running back-by-committee offence and a very efficient passing attack directed by five-foot-seven quarterback Kyle Menzies, who led Double A with 32 touchdown passes and a stunning 86 per cent completion rate.

After romping through the regular-season, winning games by 30 and 40 points, Moon says the fact his squad had a tough quarterfinal – 29-14 over Rick Hansen – and an equally difficult semifinal against Nanaimo’s John Barsby – a 27-12 victory – was beneficial.

“We ran into stiffer competition . . . and we’ve done a couple of things we never had to do all season, that’s play from behind. We showed a lot of guts and a lot of character. They were a little bit concerned but we were able to get them refocused and get them back onto what they know we can do.”

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Vancouver College, Mount Douglas 'expected' to light up scoreboard in Triple-A football final

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